Tinderbox

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie Sioux (vocals); John Valentine Carruthers (guitar, keyboards); Steven Severin (keyboards, bass); Budgie (drums, percussion). With their 1984 release, HYAENA, Siouxse & the Banshees dropped more than just a few hints that they were entering very melodic territory (their cover of the Beatles' "Dear Prudence," etc.). And they delivered on their promise with their follow up two years later, 1986's TINDERBOX. The Banshees also took a detour from the challenging and unpredictable arrangements that they had been indulging in on their past few releases to a more back to basics approach, where the song structures were more straightforward. But make no mistake about it, this wasn't easily digestible pop 'product,' the lyrical themes of certain songs (namely the modern dance pop of "Cities in Dust" and "92 Degrees") contain all sorts of disturbing imagery. Other highlights include such eerie compositions as "The Sweetest Chill" and "Lands End," as well as "This Unrest" and "Party's Fall." When TINDERBOX was issued on CD, the tracklisting was expanded to include four bonus tracks, including an 'extended version' of the aforementioned "Cities in Dust."